Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technique for processing panoramic images.
Background Art
Multiple still images that are taken in different directions of view may be composited or stitched together to obtain a wide-angle image, which is a so-called “panoramic image”. Such techniques are publicly known, and an example is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-155168.
A panoramic image can be generated such that a projection sphere having a center at a specific point of view is set, and then multiple images are projected on the inner circumferential surface of the projection sphere. At that time, the multiple images are composited so that adjacent images partially overlap, whereby the panoramic image is obtained. If the multiple images for compositing the panoramic image have the same point of view, there is no discontinuity between adjacent images, and no distortion is generated in the panoramic image, in theory. However, multiple images to be composited can have points of view that are different from each other. For example, a panoramic camera may be equipped with multiple cameras, of which the positions of the points of view cannot be physically made to coincide with each other. Consequently, a panoramic image may contain discontinuities at stitched portions of adjacent images and be distorted overall.